1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to testing of semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) devices. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a system and a method for automatically creating test conditions necessary for the IC device test and then transmitting the test conditions to a tester host so that the test conditions are loaded into a corresponding test program for controlling each of a plurality of testers.
2. Background of the Related Art
In general, ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) devices such as mask ROMs (Read Only Memory) are manufactured based on the requirements of the specific users, such as the operational speed of a device, Ce/Oe (Chip enable/Output enable) pin option, operational modes, and ROM codes. This information, so-called predetermined handling conditions, is directly reflected throughout the various portions of the manufacturing process, including the manufacturing mask, wafer fabrication, EDS (Electrical Die Sorting) test, package assembly, and final test processes.
Usually, the production information for the ASIC devices, i.e., the specific user or customer requirements, are first delivered to the marketing/sales department of the semiconductor manufacturer. The marketing/sales department builds a database of production information which is stored in a computer system, e.g., a remote host, so that many different manufacturing departments or factories can gain access to the remote host and separately retrieve information from the production information database for use in producing IC devices having specific functions and quality as required by the user.
For example, within the manufacturing departments, the testing department has to re-write test conditions into a test program for the specific IC devices according to the production information. Conventionally, in order to write the test conditions, the test engineers must access the remote host and download the necessary data from the production database. Reviewing the downloaded data, the test engineers choose and enter data suitable for the specific device IC into a test program. However, since the writing of the test condition is performed manually, human errors are inevitable and it is difficult to quickly respond to situations when new specific devices are ordered. This lengthens the testing time and decreases the efficiency of the test process. Accordingly, it is desirable to automatically create test conditions and to automatically load the test conditions into a test program.